122 Year Old Map Found in an Attic Leads to an Unbelievable Discovery Buried in a Back Yard

Excavating a residential privy at the former site of a home in Wheatland, North Dakota.
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#antiques #mudlarking #archeology #bottledigging #antiquebottles #bottles #dumpdigging #privydigging #southdakota #treasurehunting #oldbottles #metaldetecting #ghosttown #northdakota #vintage #vintagebottles #abandoned #old #stagecoach #adventure #mudlarker #mudlark #wildwestgold #wildwest #buried #buriedtreasure

[@Cutter-jx3xj]

I just turned 64, have been a butcher for 40 yrs. After 2 rounds of covid and the life changes things it left in my life, my digging days are done. Beautiful finds, thanks for a very enjoyable video

[@marylavine2632]

I appreciate that you tell about the items you find.

[@BelowthePlains]

haha thank you!

[@monicawellman3200]

I really enjoy watching you.I learn so much! 😊

[@dsbmwhacker]

Great fun! In the 60's my buddy and I found the garbage dump for the old "Fort Custer" (1877 - 1898)...We lived nearby. We found bottles, uniform buttons, uniform scraps and a couple "US" Belt Buckles. We also found hundreds of spent cartridges, slugs and occasionally an unspent round. "Whole" bottles were hard to find....there were literally thousands of broken bottles.

[@BelowthePlains]

Hit that like! drop a comment, and check out our patreon and our facebook pages. Links in the description! sorry the video is so short, THERE WILL BE ANOTHER NEW ONE OUT TOMORROW AT 3 PM CENTRAL! thanks for watching everyone, hope you have/are having a great weekend

[@daviddarrall9384]

Thank you.

[@LadyLithias]

I truly appreciate your content. It's bizarrely fascinating. My poor students who get to my class extra early.... one day they arrive, I'm watching someone digging up old outhouses, other days I have a lawyer commentating on Items of Interest (Steve Lehto) other days they see me watching the latest Aviationthing, (74 Gear or Mentour Pilot or VASaviation) or I'm watching sheep videos (Sheepishly Me or Ewetopia) or I'm watching politics (Midas Touch) or dashcams (Dashcam Lessons) or my own content (audio books in the Romantasy genre) or sheep videos of my barn animals. I truly cherish the creators who make non controversial yet entertaining videos I can watch without worrying that it'll be school inappropriate.

[@BelowthePlains]

AAAAHHHH! i fucking love steve lehto.. he reminds me of every middle aged man in north dakota. i know hes from Michigan but he really gives me MN/ND vibes. haha i watch midas touch too sometimes! but my home news channel has to be majority report. love them so much. they are live every weekday at 11 AM central... if you like midas touch, you;'re gonna love them. i think we are like minded people, but ill just leave it at that lol

[@BelowthePlains]

of course!

[@SnowPink90]

@@LadyLithias May I suggest another channel to be watching it's all about mud larking I love the UK and I think the history factor is what catches me and this mudlark show is full of history now, when you type in mud larking, it'll bring up numerous people that are doing it one name to watch for Nicola. She finds some most fascinating things from the 17,18 and 1900s. And the other one I watch is called, Sifinds another mudlarker. Check it out and see if you like it.

[@BertH-wo9bp]

Thanks, Tom. I can feel my blood pressure level out while watching your videos.

[@darrylwillett8359]

His vids are good therapy.

[@Akeber2]

So fun! My grandparents lived in rural Wheatland, ND. But watching this makes me wonder whether my garden is on a old trash pile as I often find little bottles, broken dishes and even a serving bowl with bones in it!

[@brendaprice7686]

Great finds. Thanks for the effort it takes to bring these vlogs to us. I thoroughly enjoy the uploads.

[@andrewowens9382]

Hi 👋 Tom and 👋 jake another historic bottles dig 👌 you both bring history to life well done 👏 ✔ 👍 a good collection 👍 of bottles 🍼 all the best always looking forward to watching your channel 😀 👍 Andrew south wales uk 👌 👍 👏 😀 🇬🇧

[@craigallmendinger8404]

Cool video. It reminds me of my childhood when my brother and I found dozens of old bottles after a hurricane knocked down some giant trees by a mill that dated back to the 1600s. Our parents neighbor saw them and said how much he likes collecting those and conned them all off of us. Didn’t even offer us a dime. Oh well

[@larrykoroush6995]

Cool, I sat down for lunch and take a break from working outside, and I get to watch you dig.

[@BelowthePlains]

haha awesome! if you are outside tomorrow at the same time, we have another short one coming out. thanks for watching!!!

[@juliekeenon]

Thank you for showing the ceramics. I love digging bottles and love the ceramics too. I take the larger pieces home and put them in my garden.

[@lynnestamey7272]

No matter how short it is, I'll watch it all. Thank you for taking us all with you. As always, informative and very interesting! I love all the tiny bottles and tiny jars. I'm also very interested in the different China patterns, especially transfer ware. the spit room was beautiful !

[@mikerevendale4810]

That brings back many fine memories of digging such sites as a kid literally a lifetime ago. And it's just as interesting watching you pull pieces of history out of their earthen time capsule.

[@BelowthePlains]

yeah, im honestly surprised at some of the amazing stuff i come across. i feel very blessed to be able to do what i do. thank you for watching

[@alisonmary1443]

Small pit but nice finds, the bowls beautiful. Thank you for the photos of them complete, love them.

[@PeppieP]

Loved this short but real interesting video. Do you ever wonder what the people who started the Outhouse at this area looked like, what their lives were like. Thanks for this x

[@rosschamberlain1823]

I love digging around! But it's fascinating to see history like this. I'm moving back to South Dakota soon and seeing the history of the plains states from this perspective is amazing to me in ways I can't even find words for. You have my deepest thanks.

[@thecatsmeowfromny]

I don't mind the shorter videos. They keep my attention span longer 😂.. and I love hearing the crickets in the background! Great video, Tom and Jake!

[@wwjoesr]

Awesome dig, I loved it!!!

[@chrisstover2976]

I love the crickets….summer.

[@carolynsimone8647]

Is this what is called "breaking up housekeeping" never see so much broken items...never dissappointed with your videos...see you guys tomorrow...🥰🥰

[@Looter8TreasureHunter]

Those Lydia pinkhams are so nice! Nice dig!

[@BelowthePlains]

Looter8! i try to respond to a decent chunk of the comments but i havent seen yours in awhile! that name always makes me laugh! thanks for watching!

[@beverlyhanlon8376]

You have to do a lot of work for what you find. Sometimes extra special items. Always stay safe. Thanks for all you do.

[@BelowthePlains]

haha yeah... it usually takes just as long to find the pit and just at long to make the video as it does to dig. its been kind of a chill winter tho, eager to get back out there. thanks for watching!

[@randb4865]

Thanks Tom! Great finds, great video!

[@hdood]

Do you metal detect the soil you dig out? Might find a coin or two amongst the broken dishes! Great video

[@bobkirk942]

Awesome as always Tom!!!

[@marykunselman284]

Years ago I had a job reading meters for the town I live in while I was walking from meter to meter I noticed a small blue piece of glass buried in the dirt road I dug it up and it was the tiniest Vicks bottle I had ever seen still have that little blue bottle that started my love for old bottles and glass I love your channel

[@roybal1975]

Coming up on a big milestone buddy good luck 100k subs👍

[@BelowthePlains]

hahahahahahaha you have no idea. thank you thank you thank you! we have been talking about it for like 2 months... i told tom i susupect we will take about another month to get to 100kl subs.. then today we just gain 1.2k subs. best day we ever had. thank you for noticing tho! it kinda feels surreal. never expected to actually happen... hope you have a great rest of your day/night/morning/weekend... another new video out tomorrow at 3!

[@user-yy7hg4ph6f]

​@@BelowthePlainslove your channel.....calms my nerves...😅❤

[@winifredchevalier8537]

You are so knowledgeable of your finds. Thanks for sharing. Helping us learn while enjoying your finds.

[@ToddTheJoker]

Great little dig! Take care guys! and thank you

[@BelowthePlains]

THANK YOU! will do.. you take care too!!!!

[@user-gv5zn2kr4c]

Thanks for the adventure!

[@Lindenbum]

It would be great if you would make a short video on how you identify different bottle types. Like what is an applied top ext…

[@mmalsbur9579]

Those pieces of dinnerware would look nice in a mosaic of ceramic/China pieces. I like seeing the stamp at the bottom. Have you ever thought of making a bundle of those pieces and selling them? I would buy one. I live in a house that was built in 1908. In the back yard, in the perfect distance away from the house, there is a dip in the yard, about where their outhouse would have been. My daughter was playing with a slender, long pipe and was able to push it through the ground and it slid very easily down about three feet. That’s when we figured it could have been where their outhouse used to be. I would love to have it dug up, now that I know, from you, that back in the day, they would throw things like what you dig up into those pits. Ever get out to northwest Ohio, let me know. I’ll help you dig. :-)

[@kentneumann5209]

Be careful. It could also be an old well that's been filled in, but not filled entirely to the bottom, creating a bridge of surface material with nothing below. When my uncle was 3 years old he fell through the ground into an old well that had been covered with dirt fill and waste junk materials. He actually drowned. My great grandmother (a nurse) fished him out with barbed wire fence and recesitated him. That was in the late 60's on a farm site in southern Minnesota.

[@cindyoconnell2471]

@@kentneumann5209What a very sad story! Poor little boy and his family! Good warning!

[@twindiggersminnesotapamandpat]

Another awesome dig Tom. Congrats on your finds. Loved the blue Flo ware dishes.👍👏😀

[@luanncolistro879]

Great dig !!

[@BelowthePlains]

Thanks!

[@dannmccord1923]

❤beautiful bottles Tom. The plate was awesome. ❤your videos

[@terrancemiller8350]

Thanks for taking us along. Much love. Afriend.

[@BelowthePlains]

Thank you! new short video out tomorrow. thanks for watching. sorry it was so short mr Afriend! have a great rest of your weekend!

[@santashipsterbrother]

As always, great video! Thank you guys for the work to put this stuff out for us! ❤

[@BelowthePlains]

we deeply appreciate that. thank you for watching!

[@atuuschaaw]

Love the Lydia Pinkham bottles! ♥

[@howarddenney5331]

Tom, you look like you just woke up!!!!

[@BelowthePlains]

HAHAHA thats basically what happened. This wasnt far from home! thanks for watching!

[@HistoryStillThrives]

No way! I dug up that exact Pinkhams bottle 3 days ago. I agree I love the color. 👍I also thought it was super early looking.

[@scottdean7613]

The white jar was Musterol, a competitor of Vicks. Rubbed on the chest to relieve congestion. Good video, thanks.

[@samsager1]

Nice finds!! Love that Lydia Pinkhams color!

[@user-yy7hg4ph6f]

A yes.....Lydia Pinkhams....when ladies were ladies.....😊👍

[@MegaDirtsquirrel]

I absolutely love your channel! I've tried watching other similar channels and they just don't hit the same way. I'm curious with all the ornate dinnerware you found this dig, if you've ever considered repairing them with the Kintsugi technique? I know it's culturally different from the pottery that you're finding, but it's truly beautiful. The gold seams also leave a bit of wiggle room to make it a complete piece if you're missing a tiny shard that's forever lost. Either way, I love watching what you do!

[@melindawhite5198]

Love your videos

[@BelowthePlains]

THANK YOU!

[@royrice8021]

One man’s trash, and you do have to find the dump, is another man’s treasure! 👍

[@fleendarthemagnificent7372]

This is incredible and insulators are my main thing! I love to dig dumps but haven't done so for many years. I am an insulator collector, but very much enjoy digging bottles. When they replaced the UDF in Delaware Ohio, they dug up a spot along a local creek that was an old homestead dump. I found a few nice medicine corkers and ketchup bottles here, but I am sure many more are buried under blacktop and buildings. More great historic bottles and insulators are still underground then above!

[@SnowPink90]

My older sister when she was 5 had to go on Scott's Emolsion for her bad allergies. That was in 1964 and she was on it for years, and I remember as I got older, how awful it smelt. By all the broken dishes, I would say they fought a lot because that's a lot of dishes to find in a hole.

[@user-yy7hg4ph6f]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@bradleyjanes2949]

Speech lol, your vids are unique and intresting to watch, but I realize now it's your incredible preparation and documentation of it, we all await the super rare highly valuable find but your entire approach is top notch, we thank you for all your hard work

[@barbarahatcher4552]

I look forward to seeing your videos

[@Catlady1966]

I have watched a lot of your videos, only thing have to say is, you need to be happier in your opening commentary.

[@BelowthePlains]

HAHAHA its usually right in the morning! but yeah, i always tel that to tom when we are filming, but usually im also too tired to care... we usually have to cram videos in for a week or two, and then head back home and work on editing

[@junk250]

Below the Plains , My friend was a grave digger in a Cemetery that was over a very old city dump that dates back to 1700's . Blob tops. whiskeys, poison bottles everywhere , you cant dig a cemetery, ( like he did) but this dump is huge probably 20 acres. There are some vacant private properties nearby that is on top of the same dump, how do I get permission or do I just buy the property ? There is an old layer of bottles 2-5 ft deep. I got a spot . Love your channel

[@ThePursuitofHappiness1988]

Contact your county tax assessor and get the addresses of the owners, then write them a letter.

[@nickt7658]

Soo informational Tom, Rockin all things as always. N.t

[@adamsadventures9919]

1st video of yours I stumbled across… really liked it. I’ll definitely watch more. Do you ever give value estimates on the discovered items?

[@BelowthePlains]

haha., we dont generally. idk... there are a lot of reason why, but when we put a dollar value on the stuff, it... idk what the right word is... it feels immoral... it feels like we are doing it for money. there's that reason, and then a few other ones. other people who dig dont like us putting values out there because it could effect the price of their collection. Also there are a ton of factors on what a bottle could be worth. ill just give one example. Last year we found a bottle that wasnt known to exist. it was a soda from Dakota Territory era.. We could set the price to whatever we wanted, but realistically it was between $7k - 6k... so super valuable for a bottle. Then an hour later in the same pit, we found a second one. That meant the first one wasnt the only one anymore. probably cut like 20% of the value. so then we had 2 bottles that were more like $5k - 4.5k. so basically i could write the value in a video, and then the next day, some guy could find 10 of them, and then all the sudden, the price i had in the previous video is no kind of ludicrous. i know that was a super long winded response. but its a complicated answer. but id have to say, its mainly that i just dont like how it makes us look. it makes the whole thing seem more money driven, and of course i want to find the highest value items, but i usually dont end up selling the best stuff anyways. well.. hope you liked the video. thanks for watching. we got a video coming out tomorrow at 3pm central! its gonna be a good one

[@adamsadventures9919]

Those are great reasons! Thanks for taking time to explain. New subscriber!

[@daviddarrall9384]

Your videos are so interesting. You never know whats gonna show up! UK.

[@herbertmckinney4305]

Nice job I enjoyed watching

[@richardthomas1743]

Oh heck YES!!!

[@kimderrick7796]

Great job!

[@bernadettecrawford3656]

Interesting thanks from a great grandmother from the north uk liverpool now living in australia we had plates like the blue belonging to my great grandmother.

[@metaldetectingwiththesilva8311]

Awesome video Tom!

[@siraulu1]

I just found your channel this evening and have been binge watching. So very fascinating. I have a couple of questions that have probably been asked a thousand times but I have not found the answers. 1. What do you do with all of the bottles and stuffs you find? 2. Do you need a license to excavate these sites? I would love to do some of this work here in Texas and do not exactly know how to start. I do know you have a wealth of knowledge of the types of bottles you find and that can be obtained through research and repetition. Watching you go through the process is very exciting for this old man. Thanks for your channel.

[@user-yy7hg4ph6f]

Me too....subscribed last night❤

[@andrewvelonis5940]

I've heard of Scott' s Emulsion mentioned in a song. Good to have something to relate to that reference.

[@jerrysadventures8952]

really enjoy your video

[@dangray]

Thanks

[@BelowthePlains]

thank YOU!

[@PoetiqueMs]

I always hope I'll come across something while digging in my flower beds.

[@darrylwillett8359]

Nice saves as always.

[@danny26ini]

So much broken dinner ware. Not a residence, but a dining hotel. Your are probably excavating one of the outhouses closest to the hotel.

[@acla6398cell]

Love your videos!

[@janelchambers6791]

Great finds

[@wadehendryx7378]

Short one but I still loved it. We would dig those Lydia pinkham's here in California also. Great dig. I'll let you slide on this short video. Lol.😊 hope you're doing well.

[@nickmad887]

Nice finds.

[@ianmax5263]

Nice little pit!

[@Kltpzyxm17]

Would love to see these bottles cleaned up!

[@annehardy4329]

Hi Jack, what got you into digging up old bottles and artefacts. Are you aloud to keep what you find? Is digging a hobby or full time work. I enjoy watching your videos and thanks for sharing.

[@boykinlp]

This is the first time that I have watched one of your videos. I just happened upon it. I found it extremely interesting, and obviously, you know a ton about the glass and other objects that you dig up. Do you add all the items that you find to a collection of yours, or do you sell them? Thanks for sharing.

[@normanalexander8049]

A lot of outhouses were used to dispose of this type material . Fill it up and move it.

[@dirtclodmetaldetecting]

Nice finds!

[@kennethstickney8819]

Apparently lumberjacks weren't dainty on the dinnerware😮

[@elroythewonderboy]

Love how deadpan he is at the beginning of the videos.

[@rmil4531]

Loved the Lydia bottles they were class. Thank you.

[@Justfollowthecrumbs]

I always wondered where the idea for 1960s song Lily the Pink sung by the Scaffold came from and thanks to your video, I now know. Thank you.

[@chrisstover2976]

Would love to hear from the land owners.

[@PastorRob77]

Very interesting dig and history lesson. What do you do with the finds?

[@heru-deshet359]

I was expecting a "One Eyed Willie" treasure.

[@georgiasanders7964]

My husband and i waited for a cold front come through which took the tide out. Found so many bottles.

[@fiorenzaattanasio4796]

I love your channel

[@cordiscoscorner]

Almost at 100,000 subscribers. well done guys.

[@bessiewilson1784]

Those plate pieces would look nice put on top stepping stones when done

[@sandravanpelt357]

Your doll is a "Frozen Charlotte " made in STL. Missouri . Interesting story behind her .

[@JuniorFarquar]

So, i live 1250 miles from you (i looked it up!) therefore no turf intrusion...where does one aquire these maps?

[@BelowthePlains]

hahahaha i wasnt worried. check your state archives online. you can try google "town name" and "plat map" or "sanborn map" but google isnt great for finding the actual maps... you can google your state name, county, and and "atlas" and you should be able to find the book online, and check the index, and find the plat map there... there is also loc.gov which is the library of congress website. it usually takes time to find them so maybe dont give up. the sanborn maps are the ones you want, they show where the houses stood exactly. but less than half the towns we dig, we never find the sanborn. good luck

[@JuniorFarquar]

@@BelowthePlains great answer! Prompt, succinct and chock full o' facts lol I really like your videos. Lots of fun! Thanks again...js from E TN

[@danreed7889]

Hope to see you boys in MN soon!

[@BelowthePlains]

JUST finished a MN video. its up on my patreon now, should be out on my channel within a month, 2 at the most. maybe next week! but the audio is a little spicy, because we got water in the mic. but it's actually a good dig, otherwise i would have probably scrapped it! hoping to get some more MN videos this year

[@danreed7889]

@@BelowthePlains I just watched it this morning and hope you'll do more out here.

[@jss302]

Can you make a video on your collection at home? Or a video that shows the bottles after they are cleaned up? 😊

[@nancylehti4806]

Curious. How do you clean these bottles up? Get the dirt out from inside the bottle?

[@marcelmallory2761]

Hi Tom, any idea how many pits you've dug?

[@jeffj2495]

unbelievable

[@ThePursuitofHappiness1988]

How do you determine exactly where a privy pit was?

[@karenwright8556]

Love those dinner plates! It's a shame that spittoon wasn't in good shape Majolica can bring some pretty good$$$ Nice dig.

[@JohnMarciaShackelford]

Wow. Too bad there was so much broken stuff. Butter fingers in the family? Really pretty stuff that you did find, especially the Majolica pot .

[@bearrivermama6414]

Nice little video 😊. While you were digging and commenting about the abundance of dinnerware and that some where high end I thought about why would soooo many dishes be disposed of? Perhaps the home experience a traumatic event (theft, vandalism, or something else) that could have led to a multitude of dishes being broken. I have an active imagination perhaps 😂 Minnesota winters are long so you gotta find some way to pass the time 😂

[@BelowthePlains]

hahah yeah i always like to assume they were just raging alcoholics and they just kept breaking them! lol thanks for watching!

[@bearrivermama6414]

@@BelowthePlains looks like those long Dakota winters have a similar effect 😂. I think your hypothesis is even more interesting to imagine 😁. I bet you run scenarios through your mind all the time while digging! I would! Amazing how much information can be gleaned from trash (turned treasure 😉)

[@PeppieP]

Loved this short but very interesting video. Do you ever wonder what the families looked liked who lived in these home, that created the outhouse pit. Thanks for this x

[@LeannaRuthJensen]

The answer may have been in the pit. The china doll piece says children. Children and breakable dishes means broken dishes. Modern households don't have to give breakable dishes to children, but they didn't have a lot of options back in 1905.

[@bearrivermama6414]

@@PeppieP YES! 😁 definitely

[@ronosga4391]

I just got to thinking have you ever accidentally found an unmarked grave. Also what do you do with the contents, since morphine and other controlled substances were used in a lot of medicines. Seems like you could get yourself in a bind if an officer wanted to really push things. I mean driving around with a bunch of medicine bottles and some with contents or residue. Kind of weird things to think about, but it could happen, but the videos are really interesting especially when you can date the different layers and tell when it was dipped. Would really like to see a video on how you locate spots to dig, if its something you would share.

[@btrent9244]

I wonder if this is one of those former “outhouse” sites. People used to dispose their broken houseware and etc.